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ΟΡΦΕΥΣ's avatar

If I hear one more person use “agency” as synonymous with “free will,” I AM going to lose my mind.

Please stop.

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Adam Singer's avatar

We do have both free will and agency, but what sentence didn't you like here specifically perhaps I can clarify my thinking for you. Agency is appropriate within the context of discussing self-control, personal responsibility and our ability to act deliberately. This essay would look very different if the focus was on free will (we'd be talking about whether individuals even have the ability to make choices at all). I can write on on this subject later if you'd like.

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ΟΡΦΕΥΣ's avatar

Thanks for the reply.

How specifically would you define “free will” in the theoretical “Adam Singer dictionary”? Doesn’t have to be more than one sentence, but I’d like to hear what comes to mind if you’ve got something.

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Adam Singer's avatar

Yeah sure, free will is the ability to make independent choices at all vs us being purely deterministic creatures (I don't think this is true, some may!) while agency is the capacity to act on any choices and actually do anything about them within a given context or environment. Appreciate the comments btw it's good to share thinking

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